1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotor which is intended to induce fluid flow and/or to be influenced by fluid flow and can have relevance to blower fans for moving air, pumps for inducing fluid flow and torque generators which are responsive to fluid flow such as turbines.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventor has previously disclosed in WO9703291, which matured into U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,877 and others, a rotor that has a configuration that conforms generally to the curve of a logarithmic configuration substantially conforming to an equiangular spiral of the Golden Section which is also known as the Phi ratio.
The contents of U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,877 are incorporated herein by reference. It is a feature of the rotors according to that disclosure that they have a surface which defines an arcuate fluid pathway for fluid flow about the central axis about which the rotor is able to rotate.
About half of the world's fan production each year comprises centrifugal blower type fans as opposed to axial type fans. These fans are typically used to provide higher air pressures than axial type fans at a comparably lower flow rate. They tend to be more costly to produce, heavier and require more torque from a drive motor with the resultant reliance on expensive, higher performance motors. They are noisy and inefficient to operate. Good blower efficiency tends to be in the 30% to 40% range according to the blower industry's manner of defining static efficiency.
A substantial percentage of the world's pumps also are centrifugal in nature. In a manner similar to blower fans, such pumps typically have an impeller mounted in a housing which, when rotated, flings fluid centrifugally from the rotor center. The fluid being flung out creates a central low pressure zone, causing the impeller to draw replenishing fluid into its central zone. The blower fan operates in much the same way.
In contrast, the fluid flow found caused by axial fans and pumps is substantially in a direction parallel with the central axis of the rotor.
In general, centrifugal fans and pumps comprise a rotor having a series of vanes (also referred to as blades) in which the fluid is caused to flow in a substantially radially-outward direction away from a central axis about which the rotor rotates.
The losses in centrifugal fans and pumps result from turbulence generated by the vanes. In addition, the fluid exhausted by the fan is then conducted to an outlet and further losses are incurred in the flow from the fan to the outlet.
All fluids when moving under the forces of nature tend to move in spirals or vortices. These spirals or vortices generally comply with a mathematical logarithmic progression known as the Golden Section or the Fibonacci Progression. The invention enables fluids to move over the surfaces of the rotor in their naturally preferred way, thereby reducing inefficiencies created through turbulence and friction which are normally found in apparatus commonly used for inducing fluid flow and torque generators which are responsive to fluid flow and as a result reducing the likelihood of wear and reducing energy use and noise generation.